Jack

Yesterday with about 7 minutes to go in 4th period I turned around and saw Jack.  Wait, no, Jack is physically gone.  I really saw Alex, Jack's twin brother.  He had come by to say hi.  I never had Alex as a student but I did have Jack twice and their older brother Nick once.  I love my students.  I love kids at the school that were never my students but I see them around.  Kids make me smile.  I want good things for them.  Anyways, it was nice to Alex of course but it was unexpected so as soon as he left I was blinking back the tears.  Later that afternoon I went to see Jack's grave for the third time.  This time his headstone was there.  It's a very nice one.  I cried there and then went to help a former student with his college algebra homework.  It was an alright day, just kind of long.